CIBSE

CIBSE Conference brings sustainability focus to the north-east

2008-05-02T11:20:00.002+01:00

At the end of April much of the building services profession, along with a number of CIBSE staff, descended on the north-east, eager to share knowledge, improve understanding and hear from some of the industry’s leading experts.

Why the north-east? Well, from the 29 – 30 April the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton was home to the CIBSE/ASHRAE Conference 2008, welcoming delegates from across the UK, as well as some well-travelled guests all the way from America.

Moving away from London, the conference location highlighted the ongoing regeneration work in the north-east and opened up the conference to a wider range of delegates who perhaps find it difficult to travel to the south on a regular basis. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘sustainability – from niche to norm’, reflecting the increasing influence that energy efficiency factors have on the building services industry.

Opening with a special Fringe Conference at Northumbria University on the 28th April, the following two days of conference were packed full of traditional presentations, panel sessions, case studies and optional fringe seminars. Speakers included ASHRAE President Kent Peterson, Jane Carlsen, Principal Planner for the GLA, Simon Harris, Director of Cost Consultancy at Cyril Sweett and Becky Warren from Eversheds. The social side of the conference was not ignored, with the opening Gala Dinner held at the Newcastle Civic Centre helping to welcome guests to the north-east and the ‘Niche to Quiche’ evening reception providing an opportunity to mingle with representatives from the local business community.

Naturally all the programme events are at the core of the Conference however the socialising and networking opportunities are also significant. Meeting new people, renewing contact and sharing experiences is also a key part of the event. To my mind the energy, self-confidence and general “buzz” is important too. Good to know we are still the fasting growing Engineering Institution; for all those that attended the Conference they left knowing why CIBSE is on the up. There is a job to be done and our members are proud of it.

This year’s conference was held in conjunction with ASHRAE, our US counter-parts, and follows a number of past successes such as the 2004 joint conference held in Edinburgh. Kent Peterson, President of ASHRAE, gave a comprehensive review of the US approach and the lessons we can learn, explaining how they are working to encourage industry in the US to ‘go green’. The joint conference was a further step in strengthening links between our two societies, links which were extended last year with the signing of a new membership agreement making it easier than ever for members of one body to join the other. CIBSE members are welcomed by ASHRAE without undergoing the usual admissions and advancement review and in return, ASHRAE members can use their professional engineering qualifications to join CIBSE’s growing membership.

Thanks must also go to the CIBSE staff who organised and ran the event, and to the sponsors and supporting organisations. The main sponsors of the conference were Cundall and Lochinvar, while Aliaxis sponsored the Gala Dinner.

I hope that all those who attended found it informative and timely, and I think all of us can relate to the title – the industry is now tied to the notion of sustainability and for much of the profession, working towards a sustainable built environment is already the norm.

Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive

Karen Burt Memorial Award

2008-04-28T13:44:00.002+01:00

The Karen Burt Memorial Award is awarded annually to encourage women to aim for Chartered Engineer status and to recognize their contributions to the promotion of the engineering profession.

Further information is available on the Women's Engineering Society website and an application for nomination for this Award can be submitted to CIBSE -- Email Fiona Torrance on ftorrance@cibse.org. The application form can be downloaded on the CIBSE website under "Other Awards" on the Bursary page.

Watch Dr Iain Reid and Dame Ellen MacArthur speaking at the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards

2008-03-31T11:00:00.010+01:00

While our Low Carbon Performance Awards 2008 recedes into our corporate memory just to say that you can be re-invigorated by seeing Dame Ellen MacArthur and Dr Iain Reid speaking at the ceremony in February (just click on the video links below).

Dr Iain Reid

Dame Ellen MacArthur

CIBSE Energy Assessors

2008-03-31T10:52:00.003+01:00

Finally the month the industry has been building up to – April 2008, the month when the EPBD legislation comes into force which means that new buildings, major refurbishments and large public buildings throughout England and Wales must have an energy certificate to rate the energy performance of the building. As you will all know by now, from 6th April, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) will be compulsory for all commercial buildings of more than 10,000 sq m whenever they are purchased or rented.

The build up to this implementation has been impossible to escape from and for much of last year and the beginning of this year, CIBSE and the industry in general have been frantically laying the foundations for the schemes which will make these certificates a reality. The people behind the certificates are the ones who will bring the legislation to life, without accredited energy assessors there would be no EPCs. It hasn’t been an easy road to setting up and gaining approval for the CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessor scheme but we are finally there and all the hard work has been worth it.

So, despite the various challenges along the way, we feel that the CIBSE Low Energy Assessor scheme has made a positive start and will respond well to the growing demand for assessors that will build during the coming months. There will be a lot of questions directed at CLG and the accredited training schemes, and there will always be those who criticize and bring up the flaws of other initiatives such as Home Information Packs but the point is that CIBSE, and the industry, are rising to the challenge and will do everything possible to meet the expectations of the government, of clients and of the general public.

Meanwhile CIBSE Flexible Learning has been launched; aimed at the corporate training requirement, at least to begin with. The teaching material is broadly based upon our own publications and subject matter experts, we anticipate delivering at least twelve modules on applications such as ducts, cables, drains, low energy design – on-demand web based training to the highest standard with the intention of creating best practice, a reference library and case studies. We held two briefing sessions one to the academic community and one to industry and are looking to have early adopters who will help guide and inform this learning. Already we have four companies committed to the scheme with another twelve very interested. If you would like to know more about the opportunities and benefits of getting involved with the programme, please do feel free to contact me. In the longer term I believe we shall create a “knowledge network” on line, hopefully, for all. We start in September and we are all very excited about it.

Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive

Low Carbon Performance rewarded at CIBSE annual dinner

2008-03-07T14:54:00.003Z

Last month saw the launch of the first annual Low Carbon Performance Awards, organised by CIBSE in association with E.ON. The evening was a great success, with almost 800 guests including CIBSE members, clients, members of the Low Carbon Consultants (LCC) Register and participants of the 100 Days of Carbon Clean Up Campaign.

Holding it at the Grosvenor House Hotel, as part of the traditional CIBSE Annual Dinner, added to the atmosphere of the event and opened up the awards to a wider range of guests. Ok, the Review of the Year was loud but if you needed a measure of how far the institution has come in 12 months then here you have it. Dame Ellen MacArthur and Dr Iain Stewart both made the point that we are embarked on a serious business but actually it is still important to enjoy the evening. The word I would use is confidence, CIBSE has come of age and now we are delivering. It is fun too...

It was nice to see the winners receive the recognition they deserve for the work they did in either rolling out the 100 Days campaign within their workplace, or in using their role as a registered Low Carbon Consultant to full effect. One positive outcome was the variety in building types and sizes – shortlisted entries included hospitals, museums, football clubs, universities and offices – helping to show that the energy efficiency of a building can be improved no matter its type or size.

Aside from the categories for the 100 days campaign and the LCC register was an award dedicated to the work of ‘Low Carbon Pioneers’, people who have furthered the cause of sustainability in the UK and beyond and who provide a constant source of inspiration for others working towards a sustainable future. The shortlist, voted for by CIBSE members, included high profile names such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Stuart Rose and Bill Gething but it was Bill Bordass who received the honour. Bill’s energy performance work has led to many publications including Energy Consumption Guide 19 and laid the foundations for CIBSE TM22. In the 1990s he became active in integrating human, technical and environmental factors and was a key member of the Probe team, with its pioneering series of building performance studies in the BSJ. More recently he has been working on building energy certification and helped to set up the Usable Buildings Trust.

Some people may feel that there are too many industry award events, that perhaps they are losing their relevance but I would argue that the industry needs the positivity and the recognition that awards tend to bring. The main aim of the Low Carbon Performance Awards is to reward performance rather than promise – to highlight success stories and ensure that results are being noticed. It was also wonderful to see so many of the “end users” and the value they put on the Institution and our members. We are even more determined to build on this success. With EPB and EPC almost upon us we are busy preparing our first batch of certificates.

Certainly 2008 has started with a bang. So I have no doubt, that over the coming months we hope to hear about many more successes and to draw attention to new projects and innovations in time for next year’s awards. Can we break the 1000 attendance figure; why not come and join us next year at The Grosvenor House – it promises to be an even better party. Wednesday 4th February 2009 is the date for your diary.

Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive

CIBSE Ken Dale Travel Bursary Open To All Members

2008-02-08T10:05:00.000Z

CIBSE BURSARY OF THE MONTH

Purpose of the Ken Dale Travel Bursary

The Ken Dale Travel Bursary has been established by CIBSE to commemorate Ken Dale's contribution to the Institution and our industry. The bursary will allow CIBSE members to travel and research areas connected with the applicant's field of work and which will benefit CIBSE, their employer, their clients and the professions within the building services engineering industry more widely.

Candidate Criteria

Open to CIBSE members in developmental stage of their career
At least two years' professional experience

Conditions of Award

The successful candidate will spend up to 4 weeks traveling for research connected with the applicant's field of work and which will benefit CIBSE, their employer, their clients and the professions within the building services engineering industry more widely
The Award amount depends on the scope of the project to be undertaken, its length (3-4 weeks), and the country or countries proposed for the particular study
A written report based on the research and travel experience will be produced for the Board within four months of commencing study leave
A presentation will be made to the CIBSE council on the research and findings
A commemorative presentation made at the President's Dinner in October by the successful applicant

2008 Timetable for Applications

The closing date this year for applicants is 17th March 2008
Applications will be acknowledged after 31st March 2008
Interviews will be held in April 2008 (applicants will be notified of specific dates)
A commemorative presentation made at the President's Dinner in October 2008

Download the 2007-2008 Ken Dale Travel Bursary Application Form at http://www.cibse.org/bursaries se.org/bursaries.

If you have any questions, please contact Fiona Torrance on 0208 7723624 or email ftorrance@cibse.org.

Ken Dale Biography

Kenneth William Dale was born in Birmingham in 1925. He attended the Moseley Grammar School before serving the RAF from 1942 to 1946. Ken joined the National College of Heating, Ventilating, Fan Engineering and Refrigeration as one of their first students. After working in various contracting and consulting engineering firms, Ken started his own practice, K W Dale and Partners, in 1954. Later Ken became Senior Partner, then Chairman and Managing Director, of Dale and Goldfinger Ltd.

Ken designed the engineering for notable UK and overseas buildings - such as Chatsworth House, Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, the Royal Opera House, Westminster Hospital, Trellick Tower in West London, the Mecca and Riyadh Hotels and Conference Centres, the British Embassy in Riyadh, and the British and Indian Antarctic Survey Bases. He was also on the EEC team seeking solutions to the heating problems of Romanian orphanages.

In 1974, Ken served as President of the Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (IHVE) when negotiating for a grant of a Royal Charter as part of the formation of the Chartered Institution of Building Services (CIBS). CIBS was formed in 1976 with Ken as Chairman of the Charter Panel. Working with the Secretary and Past-Presidents, Ken contributed to the Institution gaining recognition as the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) where corporate members could submit registration to the Engineering Council as Chartered Engineers.

Ken was Honorary Fellow of CIBSE, a Life Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, and President of the Federation of European Heating and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA) in 1993. He also served on the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for nine years, the Building Services Advisory Panel as Chairman, and as a tax commissioner.

In 1982, Ken received appointment as officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) after serving as a Colonel in T&VR and Aide de Camp to the Queen from 1977-1979. He became Commander of the Royal Engineer Specialist Pool Officers T&VR and Specialist Teams, and Colonel in the Engineer and Transport Staff Corps.

Ken contributed to teaching fellow engineers with academic appointments as Lecturer for Regent Street and South Bank Polytechnics, and as External Examiner for UMIST MSc Building Services Technology. Ken also published numerous technical papers.

Ken Dale Model for Development within Building Services Engineering

Working closely with clients and industry colleagues across disciplines
Striving for engineering services to be in harmony with buildings - functional, efficient, easily operated and maintained
Designing engineering with rigorous research into the requirements of each building and its occupants
Achieving intuitive and elegant engineering solutions
Avoiding inappropriate solutions - whether fashionable or traditional
Sustaining highest professional standards
Being a ‘hands-on' member of the Institution
Persisting to further goals
Participating internationally in building services engineering
Making time for hobbies, community, and public service

CIBSE President Elect John Swaffield Theme for 2008

2008-01-15T10:24:00.000Z

One of CIBSE’s strengths is the diversity of its membership and this is reflected on our Board, our Consultative Council, our groups and societies and the spread of our members internationally. It is also reflected in the themes for our Presidential years.

I have recently returned from a trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai accompanying our President Elect John Swaffield. John’s Presidential Theme will be water and spending time with John, hearing him speak to so many of our International members was time well spent.

We all look forward to focussing on water and public health – such vital issues for building services during John’s presidential year.

Recent Presidential themes have been sustainability and the nature of the construction industry. Sustainability along with related themes such as energy efficiency has been challenging enough but with the public embracing the challenge of climate change and governments concerned with security of energy for the future we have been pushing at an open door.

The leadership of our Presidents has catalysed many publications and events and the development of the Low Carbon Consultants Scheme and the 100 days of Carbon Clean-Up campaign. More recently our current President John Armstrong has focussed on whole life costing and building operation and this has enabled CIBSE to demonstrate that we are about all buildings, not just new build. This is vital if we are to address the energy wastage caused by existing buildings.

A very challenging issue is the improvement of the construction industry which, it seems, needs to be addressed right at its core. Like many other countries the construction industry in the UK is based on historical practices and processes. We have been aware of the need to change for a long time and various attempts have been made.

CIBSE’s membership base covers the breadth of the building services industry – specialists in specific services but also manufacturers, installers, supply chain managers, project managers, facilities managers as well as consultant designers. This is another great strength which allows CIBSE to take a broad perspective and identify the areas in the whole supply chain and procurement process that are weak.

At the end of 2007 CIBSE responded to the UK Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Construction and we stressed the need to change the industry for better and for ever.

2008 heralds a number of exciting initiatives for CIBSE. Hot on the tail of achieving our UKAS accreditation for CIBSE Certification we are now expanding the Low Carbon Consultant scheme to provide the basis of accreditation for energy assessors. We have also developed a flexible learning scheme.

As part of CIBSE’s obligation to the public good we have been looking at how we can provide training to services engineers after graduation, to help build on their degree training and fill in the gaps in their practical knowledge to enable them to develop as engineers. We will provide this through on-line and other electronic forms such as ‘i-seminars’ and web casts.

We believe that flexible learning will enable busy young engineers who may not have the time to attend seminars or go back to college to keep up to date in our rapidly developing industry.

Learning in a practical work environment seems to me to be essential if CIBSE members are to provide excellence in building services. Flexible learning, with its electronic delivery is well suited to our busy global CIBSE community.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all CIBSE members and readers of the BSJ a happy and prosperous 2008.

Stephen Matthews
Chief Executive

CIBSE Review of 2007

2007-12-05T17:06:00.000Z

Reading back my BSJ column for January, I am struck once again by how fast time flies! My second Christmas at CIBSE already and I am now fully emerged in the high and lows of working in an engineering institution. What a diversity of activities and issues touch the Institution. Certainly we have made progress during 2007 but of course we can always do more and will be looking towards the New Year with a sense of achievement and of motivation for 2008.

In my January column, I remarked that, with regard to CIBSE’s position within the engineering institutions, CIBSE is the relatively agile, responsive one in the land of dinosaurs. Do I still feel that to be the case? Have we started to adapt and evolve? To both questions there is a definite …Yes! Perhaps the one issue for me is that we do need to maintain our agility, especially in the arena of Climate Change; yes there is intent and substance but in other ways progress has been much slower at the political and regulation level. Certainly our profile and standing as the prime source of knowledge for sustainable buildings has risen significantly. It is how we as individuals and collectively can best bring the engineering knowledge and skills to bear for the benefit of society – that remains our challenge.

Are we any further in identifying volunteers and developing the Patrons Scheme? Well at best probably “Not Yet”. True there has been some work in this area, there are plenty of green shoots and we are starting to develop some plans for 2008. I am particularly interested in how we generate and maintain the volunteer stream. So much of our work is dependant and predicated upon our army of members who give so much of their time and energies to the Institution, simply I cannot take you for granted. Getting our young members to participate and influence our work is crucial element of our development.

2007 has been such a busy year for CIBSE that it is difficult to mention just a few highlights – we have had a productive 12 months and the proof can be seen in good publication sales, membership levels, improved industry connections and successful seminars.

CIBSE Young Engineers have had a positive year, with a number of meetings, events and social evenings helping to strengthen the role they play in ensuring the Institution remains relevant to the younger generation. Projects such as the second 100 Days of Carbon Clean Up campaign, the Low Carbon Consultants Register and the revamped website have spread the word about CIBSE to new audiences and underlined the need to engage with key issues within the industry. Meanwhile the work to establish CIBSE Services and our Certification with energy performance regulations will mean that 2008 is an exciting year for us all.

As 2007 comes to a close I would like to take this opportunity, from all of us at Delta House, to send our very best wishes of the Season to our members and friends throughout the world.

Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive

CIBSE's Carbon Footprint

2007-11-29T14:31:00.000Z

Carbon 60

CIBSE is respected within the industry for its guidance and advice on making buildings more energy efficient, and on the role of the building services engineer in this task.

It is therefore important that we practice what we preach and make our own efforts to ensure the carbon footprint of CIBSE HQ is reduced. This led to the decision to hold a competition to encourage innovative ideas to reduce the CIBSE HQ’s emissions by 60% by the end of 2009.

Run by CIBSE’s ‘Carbon Task Force’, a group of leading figures in low carbon in buildings, the competition was won by Fulcrum Consulting who continue to be involved in the implementation. The competition process opened up the initiative to the wider industry and provides a model for others to replicate.

With a working building that has been adapted significantly over time and a yearly budget, the changes must be phased in. We began with planning and establishing baselines to work from including an occupancy survey to benchmark the continuing comfort of staff and building users. This will be repeated so that we can ensure comfort levels are improving

Phase One of the implementation is coming to an end - we now have new boilers, new water tanks in the roof and effective loft insulation. Controls have been fitted to enable staff members to control the radiators directly when the heating is on. The heating will be switched on centrally and will also respond automatically to the outside conditions but it was felt that the ability to control the indoor environment is important to the comfort of individuals. Longer term, information collected automatically about building use and heating requirements will also be used to provide our heating so we will have a modern and energy efficient heating system.

CIBSE is committed to promoting renewable energy and for this reason we are looking at the possibility of heat recovery, energy generation on site from renewable sources and passive measures such as solar water heating and summer shading.

One of the key objectives of this project has been to demonstrate how companies can make improvements based on targets and how they can balance quick wins with measures that may need investment and have a longer term payback. Although CIBSE has been supported by business benefactors, eager to support the project, our phased implementation is being documented to demonstrate the real costs so that others, who may not have benefited from donations of time and equipment have something to base their decisions on.

Many businesses occupy similar premises to CIBSE – converted dwellings or older buildings that have been adapted over time and it is this existing building stock, not built for current use that has great potential. Improvement of these buildings ticks al the boxes – comfort of the workforce, reduction of energy bills and reduction of carbon emissions. The CIBSE Carbon 60 initiative will show that companies can tackle reducing their own carbon emissions in a market situation based on achievable targets

The Great Refurbishment Event took place last month, highlighting the issues that arise from starting out on a refurbishment project, with a high number of delegates attending, including 100 participants from the 100 days of carbon clean up campaign. CIBSE events always aim to provide guidance and up to date information on timely issues, so the success of the refurbishment event confirmed that more and more organisations are becoming aware of the need to make existing, not just new, buildings more energy efficient and that refurbishment can be a ‘green opportunity’.

I look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of our ‘green opportunity’ and will hopefully be able to provide some before and after photos to show the results in action.

Stephen Matthews
Chief Executive